The Big QuestionTHIS MONTH OUR TEEN UNZIPPER, ANSHU GUPTA,EXPLAINS WHY SHE GROOVES ON THIS GWENDOLYNBROOKS POEM.

POETRYUNZIPPED>> Drawing Conclusions

Oh mother, mother, where is happiness?

They took my lover’s tallness off to war,

Left me lamenting. Now I cannot guess

What I can use an empty heart-cup for.

He won’t be coming back here any more.

Some day the war will end, but, oh, I knew

When he went walking grandly out that door

That my sweet love would have to be untrue.

Would have to be untrue. Would have to court

Coquettish death, whose impudent and strange

Possessive arms and beauty (of a sort)

Can make a hard man hesitate—and change.

And he will be the one to stammer, “Yes.”

Oh mother, mother, where is happiness?

To unzip poetry:>>TO REVEAL THETRUTH OF A POEM

>>TO ANALYZE APOEM’S MEANING

>>TO CLARIFY THE FORMBEHIND THE WORDS

the sonnet-ballad BY GWENDOLYN BROOKS

“THE SONNET-BALLAD” FROM “APPENDIX TO THE ANNIAD: LEAVES FROM ALOOSE-LEAF WAR DIARY” IN ANNIE ALLEN BY GWENDOLYN BROOKS, PUB-LISHED BY HARPER. © 1949 BY GWENDOLYN BROOKS.

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ANSHU GUPTA UNZIPS “THE SONNET-BALLAD”I love this poem because everything about it is beautiful, yetit represents sad events. In the first line, the speaker is fullof anguish because her lover was taken away. It is an angrypoem that touches so many issues: war, love, individuality,

and the quest for happiness. Brooks writes in trochaic pen-tameter, with 10 syllables in each line. The trochees

have calm beginnings andharsh endings. They coin-cide with the poem’stheme: In the past thespeaker experienced lovethat was calm and gentle,

but it was cut short by war, which is hard, rough, andstressful. Brooks paints an image with each word she usesand allows the reader to experience the scene for herself.She ends the poem with a question that keeps the readerthinking. This poem is beautiful because it does not tell ushow to interpret it or even what it is about. It just leaves usto wonder, “Where is the happiness?”

ANSHU GUPTACARY ACADEMYDURHAM, NORTHCAROLINAAGE: 15

Unzipped: Your Turn>> IN WHAT SENSE WILL THE SPEAKER’SLOVER “HAVE TO BE UNTRUE”?

>>WHAT CHANGE DOES THE SPEAKER FEAR?

>>HOW DOES THE RHYME SCHEME AFFECT THESOUND AND MEANING OF THE POEM?

>>WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF REPEATING THEOPENING QUESTION AT THE END OF THE POEM?

ABOUTGWENDOLYNBROOKSBORNJune 7, 1917Topeka, Kan.DIEDDecember 3,2000, Chicago,Ill.EDUCATION Wilson JuniorCollege,ChicagoBIGAWARDPulitzerPrize in PoetryHER CROWDIn the 1930s,Brooks hung outwith LangstonHughes. In the1960s, shebecame active

in the Black Arts

movementin Chicago.

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Literary Cavalcade OCTOBER 2004 35

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SEND US the titleand author ofyour favoritepoem, and tell uswhy you love it.What is it aboutthe poem thatspeaks to you?What’s yourfavorite image?How does it relateto you and yourlife? Send yourresponse toLC@Scholastic.com.

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